Door mat

ABSTRACT

A door mat of resilient molded material has a raised rim around a portion of its area and upwardly extending flexible members at least within said rim, whereby water can be held within said rim with the flexible members protruding therefrom in use.

O Unlted States Patent 1 1 1111 3,91 1,520

Tupper Oct. 14, 1975 [54] DOOR MAT 182,917 5/1958 Meyer D6/209 X 197,837 3/1964 Steinberg D6/209 X [75] Inventor: Earl Silas Tupper, Panama, Panama 201,615 7/1965 Titherley 0 137/188 73 Assignee: TUP!(Panama) S.A., Panama, 613,133 10/1898 Fqbave 15/112 UX Panama 2,984,923 5/1961 M1tchell D6/213 UX 3,078,490 2/1963 Etcher 1 15/216 [22] Filed: July 27, 1973 3,100,312 8/1963 Williams 15/215 3,253,293 5/1966 George et a1. 15/215 1 1 pp r94318363119 3,696,459 10 1972 Kucera 15 217 FOREIGN PATENTS OR APPLICATIONS 1301 Pmmy Data 198,292 5 1923 United Kingdom 15/238 July 28, 1972 United Kingdom 35336/72 Primary ExaminerDanie1 Blum [52] US. Cl. 15/104.92; 15/112; 11556211868; Attorney Agent, or p p n philpitt & Vande Sande [51] Int. Cl. A47L 23/26 [58] Field of Search 15/215, 216, 217, 104.92, [57] ABSTRACT 220/238; 136/209; 137/188 door mat of re s 111ent r11o1ded materlal has a ralsed rlm around a port1on of Its area and upwardly extend- [56] References Cited ingtflexible gnergligrs gthl aast 9:1ith1n sai ihriirlll, wt1l1er galy UNITED STATES PATENTS Wd erb 02111 e w; 1nf Sdl r1m W1 e ex1 e 92 7 10/1934 Pryale 136/709 UX mem ers protru mg t ere rom 1n use. 1711:1119 9/1956 Barnes D6/209 x 1 Claim, 3 Drawing Figures us. Patent Oct. 14, 1975 v 3,911,520

l O O 1 FIG] DOOR MAT This invention relates to a door mat.

In particular this invention relates to the heavy-duty molded door mats which have usuallyhitherto been made of rubber and which have the function of removing gross adherent mud or slush before the user enters a building.

It is known to provide for example molded rubber door mats which have a number of upstanding ridges or spikes. However, while such mats are to some extent effective they soon become dirty and clogged with mud.

The present invention consists in a door mat a portion of which is provided with a raised rim to define a shallow container for water, and having upwardly extending flexible members within the rim so as to protrude above the water level.

In use the mat according to the invention will be supplied with water within the rim so that when mud is removed from the shoe by moving the shoe to and fro against the upstanding flexible members (such as spikes or ribs) within the rim the mud is softened and washed from the tops of these points or ribs by the water. Since the upstanding portions will generally be flexible, they will bend into and out of the water as the mat is used and this will in effect wash them clean and ensure that they are continuously useful for their cleaning function.

In practice the mat will usually be provided with upwardly extending flexible members over the whole or the greater part of its surface, and the rim defining the area for containing water will surround some but not all of these flexible members. In this way gross adherent material can be removed outside of the rim and the region within the rim, provided with water, can be used for cleaning the remaining mud from the shoe more effectively.

While all of the upwardly extending flexible members can have the same profile, it is possible for those within the rim and protruding above the water level to be more deformable than those outside the rim since they are needed to cope with the remaining relatively smaller adherent patches of material and to deform down into the water in order to be washed clean.

The flexible members can be ribs extending transversely to the direction of movement of the foot (and accordingly generally longitudinal, referred to the usual shape of door mats) or may be upwardly extending spikes or nodules.

The flexible members may be arranged in a regular or a random pattern. Thus, if ribs are used, they may be integral parallel unbroken upstanding ribs or may be arranged as short aligned ribs in parallel rows. Where spikes are used, they can be arranged in a generally hexagonal pattern for ease in molding.

The mat may if desired have an upwardly extending rim extending all the way around the periphery in addition to the rim extending around the area suitable for containing water.

A preferred design of mat has in addition to the area for containing water and to other areas containing upwardly extending flexible members such as spikes or ribs, one or more relatively plain areas so that theuser can stand on such area with one foot while mo'ving the other foot and without permanently deforming any spikes or ribs. If necessary the area to be stood on can be suitably marked or indicated.

Another optional but advantageous feature according to the present invention is to have the back of the mat provided with score lines or crease lines whereby it can be folded to a smaller size for transport and cleaning. For example, two such fold lines can be provided extending across the back of the mat behind the rim which defines the water-containing area.

While the mat can have a variety of shapes and still fall within the invention, it is generally envisaged for it to be between 2 and 4 feet long and between 9 and 18 inches wide. The overall thickness of the mat, that is to say the thickness of the base plus the height of the upwardly extending portions, will generally be from to 2 inches. However, it is stressed that these numerical limitations do not affect the broad scope of the invention as defined above.

The invention will be further described with reference to the accompanying drawings in which:

FIG. 1 is a general diagrammatic plan view of a mat according to the invention;

FIG. 2a is a similarly diagrammatic plan view of an alternative embodiment of a mat according to the invention;

FIG. 2b is a section through the mat of FIG. 2a in the longitudinal direction; and

FIG. 3 is a diagrammatic plan view of a further embodiment of a mat according to the invention.

In FIG. 1 a door mat is composed of molded rubber or synthetic elastomeric composition and consists of a flat base 1 from which a plurality of spikes 2 extend upwards. A rim 3 extends all the way around a central portion of the mat, and within the rim a further array of spikes 4 extends upwards. (It will of course be apparent that the spikes shown should extend over the whole of the relevant areas). The upstanding rim 3 defines a tray for holding a supply of water, usually in such a way that the spikes protrude from the water but can be deformed to pass into it when the mat is in use. In the particular example shown in FIG. 1, the spikes 2 and 4 and the rim 3 all extend to the same height.

In FIG. 2a a generally similar arrangement is shown, except that an upwardly extending rim 5 extends around the whole mat and, by virtue of two cross members 6, defines the central area for holding water. In the embodiment shown in FIG. 2a, the spikes 2 and 4 are replaced by ribs 7 and/or 8 as shown. (It will be apparent that these ribs and the spikes 4 as shown in FIG. 2a extend over the whole of their relevant areas, and that the exact configuration of the ribs is optional). Moreover, if desired, flexible ribs could replace the spikes 4 within the water-holding area defined by the rim 5 and the cross-members 6.

FIG. 2b is a cross-section through FIG. 2a. It will be apparent from FIGv 21) how the various ribs and spikes extend to the same general level as the surrounding rim 5 and cross-members 6. Moreover, it will be clear that the rim 5 and cross-members 6, as well as the spikes 4, are upwardly tapered so that the mat can be readily molded and removed from the mold, while still providing ribs of a suitable strength and flexibility. Moreover, in FIG. 2b the arrows 14 indicate a suitable location for a fold line extending across the mat on the back thereof so that the end portions can be folded around the central portion when it is desired to transport the mat.

FIG. 3 again shows an embodiment of a mat according to the invention in which there is surrounding rib 5 and various integral cross-members 9, 10, l1 and 12 defining various compartments. Of these, only the central compartment 13 is intended to contain water and again it is provided with spikes 4 as shown in the preceding embodiments. There are two raised portions each in the shape of a shoe print within two of the compartments, indicating to the user that he can advantageously put his weight on these portions of the mat without deforming any of the flexible upwardly extending portions. The spikes 2, which are outside of the central water holding compartment, are less deformable than the spikes 4.

It will be apparent from each of the figures that the various ribs are provided with internally rounded angles so that the mat may be readily cleaned. Moreover, these rounded angles assist in retaining the ribs upright so that the area defined by the central portion in each mat can contain water without undue loss or spillage.

Various modifications may be made within the scope flexible spikes located within the rim, whereby water. can be held within the rim with said spikes extending above its effective surface in use, further upwardly extending flexible spikes located over part of the surface of the mat outside the rim for gross dirt removal and being less deformable then the flexible spikes within the rim, and one or more plain areas on which the user can stand with one foot so as to avoid permanently deforming the said further upwardly extending spikes.

=l l l 

